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Showing off the present … and the future

For starters, I’ve never seen so many different types of electric vehicles (EVs) for such a wide variety of different manufacturers gathered together all in one place.

[You can click here to view a photo gallery of the EV spectacle on display – everything for “go kart” style work trucks to missile-like roadsters capable of going well over 100 mph.]

Everyone from Japanese OEMs to French, German, and American automakers – even the Chinese as well – showed off some sort of EV or hybrid vehicle at NAIAS 2011; representing millions upon millions of investment in research and development.

Many of those EVs and hybrids are production or near-production models as well, meaning these vehicles are here to stay for a while.

For the more futuristic minded, all sorts of things were on hand to ponder over. The College for Creative Studies in Detroit, MI, showed off their student’s visions for the transportation world of tomorrow – encompassing everything from all-electric non-combat military vehicles to big rigs and strange looking pickup trucks. You can see some of their futuristic renderings in the video below.

Michelin helped host a unique pavilion dedicated to what the future of transportation might look like; including “EN-V” personal mobility vehicles, part of a collection “different” motorized transport options at NAIAS that didn’t quite fit into any one single category.

[You can see some of them in a special photo gallery by clicking here.]

Of course, “luxury vehicles” still retain an enormous amount of cache in the automotive world, and plenty of high-priced rides dotted the 2011 NAIAS landscape – sporting nameplates familiar to even the most novice gearhead, such as Ferrari, Rolls Royce, and Porsche.

[Click here to see a sampling of the luxury cars on display at NAIAS 2011 – including one of the most expensive luxury production vehicles in the world.]

I’ll tell you one thing – no matter how many times I attend such auto shows, there’s never a dearth of interesting and fun vehicles to gaze upon.